Resident Evil Is a Child, Capcom and Fans Are Its Parents

“We do listen to the fans but we can’t be beholden to them at every turn,” says Resident Evil 6 producer.

So the first reviews of Resident Evil 6 are rolling in and they’re painting a bleak picture. A few outlets have chucked out the usual sevens and eights, while Gamespot, Polygon and Destructoid have been lining up to kick the game in the teeth. While the professional response has been mixed, the fan response seems unanimous: The game’s Metacritic user score currently stands at 0.5. While Metacritic user scores are worth exactly the same amount as the paper they’re printed on, the low score does reflect the fanbase’s oft-voiced displeasure with the franchise’s new, action-packed direction.

Resident Evil 6 producer, Eiichiro Sasaki, compared Capcom’s strained relationship with the series’ fans to that of two fussy parents arguing over a child.

“The way I always think of it is that if Resident Evil represents a child, then the fans and us as creators are the two parents,” he told the PlayStation blog. “The resulting games are like the children that are born between both of us. And just like real parents, you’re not always going to agree on what is best for raising that child.”

“We want to make sure that what we do pleases them but the initial reaction might not always be positive. We do listen to the fans but we can’t be beholden to them at every turn or I don’t think we’ll ever make progress in terms of the series’ development.”

The role of fans and the degree of influence they should wield over a game’s direction has been a hot topic as of late. The poor response to footage of 2K Marin’s 1950s XCom FPS reboot seems to have prompted the hasty release of a more traditional XCom game from Firaxis. 2K’s version appears to have been put on the back burner, with a recent survey indicating that the game may become a download-only third-person shooter. Likewise, the angry response to Mass Effect 3‘s ending and the subsequent campaign to have it changed seem to indicate that the game industry’s line between creator and audience is rapidly being redrawn.

Source: PlayStation Blog